Lagazzi del Vho and San Sivino starting at Piadena

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Lagazzi del Vho

   Four thousand years ago people built a village on stilts at the edge of a marsh here, and the muck preserved it. The Lagazzi del Vho site, near Piadena in the Po plain, was a Bronze Age settlement raised on wooden piles above a wetland, and thousands of its timbers, pots and tools lay waterlogged in the mud until archaeologists recovered them. It is one of the prehistoric pile dwelling sites around the Alps that UNESCO listed in 2011, and Italy has several. You will not see houses, since the evidence lies buried, but you will see a flat green plain that was once water, and a good museum in the town explains the finds.

   Read the complete Lagazzi del Vho write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Lagazzi del Vho is where the day begins. Next is Mantua and Sabbioneta.

2. 2. Mantua and Sabbioneta

   Approach Mantua from the north across the causeway and you see why it was so hard to conquer: the city rises from water on three sides, encircled by lakes formed from the river Mincio, its domes and towers reflected in the still surface. For nearly four centuries it belonged to the Gonzaga family, who turned a marshy town into one of the most brilliant courts of the Renaissance, and Mantua is listed by UNESCO together with Sabbioneta, the small ideal city that a branch of the same family built some thirty kilometres away.

   Read the complete Mantua and Sabbioneta write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mantua and Sabbioneta comes up about 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli.

3. 3. Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli

   South of Lake Garda, the land rises into a series of low hills, the moraines left behind by the glacier that carved the lake. Among them, in a hollow, lies a small heart-shaped lake, and on a ridge above it stands the walled village of Castellaro Lagusello, one of the most charming in Lombardy. The lake and its marshes are a nature reserve, and on its shore, at Fondo Tacoli, archaeologists found the remains of a Bronze Age pile dwelling settlement, part of the UNESCO group of prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps.

   Read the complete Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 72 km into the recorded legs you reach Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli. Next is San Sivino.

4. 4. San Sivino

   On the western shore of Lake Garda, between Manerba and Moniga, the little bay of San Sivino hides something very old under its shallows. People lived here in the Bronze Age in villages built on wooden piles at the water's edge, and the remains of their posts, tools and pottery survive in the mud of the lake. The site is one of the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps that UNESCO listed in 2011, a series of more than a hundred sites spread across six countries. There is nothing to see above the water, but knowing that the shore was settled thousands of years ago adds a quiet depth to an afternoon by the lake.

   Read the complete San Sivino write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   San Sivino, about halfway. Next is back through Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli.

5. 5. back through Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Castellaro Lagusello - Fondo Tacoli sits at 140 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mantua and Sabbioneta.

6. 6. back through Mantua and Sabbioneta

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mantua and Sabbioneta write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Mantua and Sabbioneta comes up about 166 km into the recorded legs. Next is Lagazzi del Vho.

7. 7. Lagazzi del Vho

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Lagazzi del Vho write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Lagazzi del Vho closes the day.